Angels beat Boston 8-4 behind Palmer's five-hitter

May 14, 2009 - 6:04 AM
ANAHEIM, Calif.(AP) -- It took Matt Palmer 30 years to get his
first major league victory, and now he has four in a span of
just 21 days - including a complete game against the Boston Red
Sox.

The Los Angeles Angels' right-hander overcame a shaky start,
pitching a five-hitter and retiring the last 19 batters in an
8-4 victory on Wednesday night.

"It's amazing. The story writes itself. But I don't have a
chance to pinch myself," Palmer said. "I don't have a chance to
sit here and relax. I've got to pitch hard every game. If I
don't, then I'm out. That's just the way it is. So I'll keep
going hard as long as I can and try to impress and try to keep
my team where they need to be."

After spending 38 pitches in the first two innings, Palmer (4-0)
threw just 71 over the final seven. The complete game was the
Angels' third in their last six contests.

"I've got to commend him. He's a journeyman who's been around
the minor leagues for seven or eight years, and right now he's
fulfilling his dream and pitching his butt off," teammate Torii
Hunter said.

"From center field, I could see everything - and I was
impressed. He had the cutter working inside, backdoor-ing guys,
and had them off-balance. He was changing speeds, hard-in with
the sinker, and the curve ball was breaking so much it looked
like it rolled off a table. And they couldn't handle it."

Palmer, struck out eight and walked two. He made his first three
big league starts last season with San Francisco and was 0-2.

"We got some runs early and then he settled down," said Jason
Bay, who had two hits including a two-run homer in the first
inning. "He was getting us to swing at his pitch early in the
count. He did a good job of using all his pitches and didn't
really expose one pitch in one spot. It was kind of a textbook
case of a pitcher using everything he's got, hitting his spots
and getting early contact."

Mike Napoli hit a go-ahead three-run homer and Hunter also went
deep against knuckleballer Tim Wakefield, who is 0-6 with a 9.30
ERA in his last six road starts against the two-time defending
AL West champions.

Wakefield (4-2) was staked to a 4-0 lead through the first two
innings. But that disappeared in the third as the Angels rallied
with five runs against the right-hander, who retired only six of
his first 15 batters.

"The offense scored four runs early and gave me a comfortable
lead, and I couldn't hold it," Wakefield said. "I just tried to
grind it out and it didn't work. I pride myself on giving the
club innings, and I wasn't able to do that tonight. Physically,
I felt fine. I left the bullpen feeling great, but I just
couldn't convert it into the game."

The first five Angels reached base safely in the third, as
Hunter and Kendry Morales hit consecutive RBI singles. Napoli
followed with a drive to center field on an 0-1 pitch, putting
the Halos ahead to stay.

Hunter made it 6-4 in the fourth, sending a 1-0 delivery just
inside the left field pole for his ninth homer of the season and
fourth of his career against Wakefield. The 17-year veteran had
allowed only one home run in 51 innings over his previous eight
starts, after giving up three in the first two innings of a 10-3
loss at Tampa Bay on Sept. 17.

Reggie Willits gave the Angels a 7-4 lead in the fifth with a
two-out single that chased Wakefield, who was charged with seven
runs and 11 hits over 4 2-3 innings in his shortest outing this
season. Last year, he failed to complete three innings in three
of his final six starts, including a 13-4 loss to the Rays in
Game 4 of the AL Championship Series.

David Ortiz was 1-for-4, and has gone 137 at-bats since his last
home run on Sept. 22 against at Fenway Park. He is eight at-bats
away from equaling his longest dry spell at any point of a
season during his big league career, which included parts of six
seasons with Minnesota.

Notes: Angels RHP Ervin Santana, sidelined since opening day
because of a sprained elbow, will make his season debut in
Thursday's matinee against Brad Penny. ... Angels RHP John
Lackey will make his season debut on Saturday, a year and two
days after making his first start of 2008. Lackey, who had never
been on the disabled list in his first six big league campaigns,
sat out the first 41 games last season with a strained triceps
and has been sidelined this season because of a forearm strain.